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Grieving death all over again

Thu., Feb. 14, 2013

Re: 4,000 autopsied organs awaiting pickup by families, Feb. 13

4,000 autopsied organs awaiting pickup by families, Feb. 13

Do families really want to know? The answer for me is “No!”

My brother passed away in 2000, alone in his apartment. He was discovered by a neighbour who contacted the police. I received a phone call from the police notifying me of his death. They also told me that the coroner would have to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death. It was explained to me that I would be notified of the results and could, at that time, claim the remains.

After a few days, I was notified as to the cause of death and told that I could then claim his body.

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I made arrangements with a funeral home to pick up my brother and transport him to the funeral home, where the funeral service was held. I dealt with the grief then, and now I have to deal with it again.

Dr. Michael Pollanen, Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist, said: “The doctor...would try and protect the family or patient from truths to spare their grief.” This was just delaying the inevitable grief when the families became aware of what had been done.

Whenever the phone rings, from now until June 14, 2013, I will be remembering my brother’s untimely death, and wondering if the call relates to one of his organs.

Dr. Pollanen went on to say that “all reasonable attempts” to notify the family must be made.

My hope is, that in my case, there will be no need to contact me as my brother’s body was intact.

This ugly situation could have, and should have, been dealt with in a much more respectful, and less-hurtful manner. If affected families had been contacted privately, without all of this publicity, those unaffected families would not have the concerns that I have. The publicity could have waited until the June 14 date. Now we all have to wait until June, when hopefully, the agony will end.

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